Orchester der Kulturen
Orchester der Kulturen & Photographer Marc Schäfer
Aufnahmen "A World Symphony" by Marc SchäferOrchester der Kulturen
Founded in 2010 in Stuttgart, the "Orchestra of Cultures" is a globally unique orchestra that combines classical symphonies and stirring rhythms with ethnic instruments and singers from all over the world to create a new musical sound experience.
The leitmotif of musically uniting cultures from all over the world leads to an absolutely new, unprecedented listening experience by combining the most diverse instruments and sound colors, and has opened the door for the orchest
Aufnahmen "A World Symphony" by Marc SchäferOrchester der Kulturen
Adrian Werum - artistic director
"Everything great is put to the test in the details”
“Be embraced, millions“, as Schiller so beautifully says, can only be achieved by taking the individual seriously.
Aufnahmen "A World Symphony" by Marc SchäferOrchester der Kulturen
The recordings for the CD "A World Symphony"
"A World Symphony", the latest recording of the orchestra, will be officially released in the summer of 2021. For each piece, the orchestra was divided into several ensembles - so that the optimal sound could be achieved for each sub-ensemble, the recording sessions took place in three phases. Take a look over the musicians' shoulders in the different studios!
First stage: Recording with the band in the Sandhausen studio
The band recordings and the ethnic instrument recordings took place at Kleinen Audiowelt in Heidelberg-Sandhausen. The music production network in the "Alte Zigarrenfabrik" building was founded in 1980 in Sandhausen near Heidelberg as "Tonstudio van Geest" and is now one of the largest privately run recording studios in Germany.
Latin & Oriental Percussion, Cajon & Gitarre, Tonmeister Markus Born
The property was purchased by renowned sound engineer Teije van Geest and cellist Gisela Reith-van Geest in 1980 and completely converted into a recording studio. Steel beams were used in the basement to stabilize the heavy, newly installed and double-walled sand-lime brick walls. The ground floor was expanded to 1000 square feet, remodeled and acoustically optimized.
The three upper floors were converted into apartments and the basement was used to store machinery and band materials. The dry sandstone walls in the basement provided an optimal climate for the storage of tapes.. Some are still in excellent condition today, 35 years later.
Upon going into retirement, Teije van Geest sold the building to Christian Stader. In 2016, after restructuring and remodeling (completely new house wiring / SSL direction, new rooms, complete remodeling of the apartment and the basement) all units and studio rooms were brought together under the label "altezigarrenfabrik".
Since the founding years, the multiple Grammy-nominated sound engineer Günter Appenheimer is still on board, spanning more than 50 years from analogue through digital audio production, to the young engineers Chris Gajny and Tobias Schirmann, or the producers Jens Schneider and Dennis Keil. In 2014, graduate sound engineer Daniel Deboy and sound engineer Elena Klinova joined the team and took her place in the new control rooms 9 and 10.
Highlights of the rehearsal :)
Second stop: In the Hans Rosbaud Studio at SWR
In the early 1950s, Südwestfunk was given a new production and broadcasting center on the so-called "Funkhöhe" (Radio hill) in Baden-Baden. Among the first buildings to be completed was the "Music Studio," which went into operation in November 1950 and was officially inaugurated on November 26, 1950.
There, in Baden-Baden, the classical orchestra recordings for "A World Symphony" were made.
The Hans Rosbaud Studio made it possible to produce and broadcast recordings under the best conditions in two studios (Studio 5 for orchestral music and Studio 6 for chamber music). Under its principal conductors Hans Rosbaud, Ernest Bour and Kazimierz Kord, the Südwestfunk Symphony Orchestra produced numerous recordings in Studio 5 and also gave regular public concerts.
Aufnahmen "A World Symphony" by Marc SchäferOrchester der Kulturen
For orchestral recordings, our classical musicians, under the direction of Adrian Werum, were able to experience the excellent recording conditions of the historic Hans Rosbaud Studio in Baden Baden.
From the 1950s, the legendary Südwestfunk jazz editor Joachim-Ernst Berendt used the studio for his broadcast series "Jazztime Baden-Baden". In recent years, however, for fire safety reasons, the Hans Rosbaud Studio could no longer be used as a gathering place.
As Südwestrundfunk builds a new media center on the "Funkhöhe", the old buildings, built in the 1950s in a pavilion structure, are gradually demolished. The Hans Rosbaud Studio will be used for music productions until the move to the new media center space. Demolition of the Hans Rosbaud Studio is scheduled for 2024.
Highlights of the orchestral recordings with the strings!
Third stop: Back at the Old Cigar Factory
The last recording sessions were with the world music instruments. These included numerous exotic instruments that make up the orchestra's special timbre - such as the didgeridoo played by Frank Heinkel.
Erhu - Chinese violin
Chiao-Hua Chang 张巧骅
The erhu (Chinese 二胡) is a two-stringed bowed tubular spit lute used in Chinese music.
Kora - African harp
Kandara Diabate
The kora is a West African bridge harp plucked with both hands, also classified as a harp lute.
Pipa - Chinese lute
Lucy Zhao 赵路曦
The pipa (琵琶), one of the most popular Chinese instruments, is a plucked shell-neck lute used in traditional Chinese music.
Duduk - Armenian flute
Taylan Acar
The duduk (Armenian դուդուկ) is a woodwind instrument with an extremely large double reed, up to ten centimeters long and up to three centimeters wide.
Dulcimer
Andreas Kerber
The dulcimer is a type of box zither whose strings are struck with hammers. Here Andreas plays a dulcimer from the alpine region.
Aufnahmen "A World Symphony" by Marc SchäferOrchester der Kulturen
More information about the CD can be found on our website:
www.orchesterderkulturen.de
Photographer: Marc Schäfer; Studio Kleine Audiowelt in Heidelberg-Sandhausen;
The Hans Rosbaud Studio of SWR in Baden Baden
